Riding Hood
by dreamlily
Summary: Armed with a basket of sweets, Alice sets off on a mission to make everyone happy. Unfortunately, things don't end up the way she plans...R&R, no flames please!


Riding Hood:

Alice sighed, cerulean eyes lowered to the pavement, as she scrunched up the remaining crumbs in her basket and slowly released, letting them sift through her fingers like sand.

Who knew an idea with such good intentions would end up leaving her alone?

* * *

~Earlier that day~

"Your up early." Julian pointed out, watching Alice from over the rim of his coffee cup.

Alice shrugged, barely looking up from the label she was examining on a jar of jelly, as she made some last minute preparations to a wicker basket propped on top of the counter.

"Everyone's been in a bad mood around here lately, what with the war and such. I'm going to try and cheer them up." Alice declared, stepping away momentarily to slip on her shoes, and quickly run her fingers through strands of her copper hair to brush it.

Julian smiled lightly and stood up from his seat, to take a closer look at the basket.

"It needs something..." He murmured, placing one hand underneath his chin thought.

Alice blinked in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

"That's it!" He spoked suddenly, turning behind him to reach inside of a cabinet and pull out a red ribbon.

He delicately tied a bow around the handle to her basket before handing it to her.

"Thanks...?" Alice replied, a sweat drop forming on her forehead. She couldn't decide if she loved or hated it, but she wan't going to hurt Julian's feelings either.

Tucking the basket underneath her arm, she searched through the contents and found what she was looking for.

"This one's yours." She smiled lightly, giving him a plate of cookies wrapped in foil.

"Sweets?" He chuckled, a curious look in his eyes.

"That's right." Alice nodded, before marching out the door.

Julian felt another smile cross his face as he shook his head, it would take a lot more than baked cookies to solve a centuries old war. But if anyone could do it, it would be Alice surer than none.

He took them back to his desk with a sigh and began on his work. As he carefully examined a clock in one hand, he reached over to grab one of her cookies to take a nibble.

His eyes grew wide at the first bite, nearly breaking his tooth. They were as hard as rock!

"Oh Wonderland is in trouble..." Julian moaned, tapping the stiff cookie against his desk.

It was bound to be a long day.

* * *

Alice moaned, shoulders convulsing as she made her way deeper into the forest that served as a link between all the territories.

"Of all other times..." She mumbled bitterly, rubbing her arms to keep warn.

Every once in a while Wonderland had it's bi-polar days, in which the weather would turn unseasonably warm or cold.

Right now, it happened to be absolutely freezing. Alice was certain she could see puffs of white air from her breath.

"Hey there!" A voice called out, distracting her from her thoughts.

She turned to see Ace stumbling out from the trees foliage, a familiar grin across his face.

"What's with the bag?" She asked, pointing to a sack he had slung over one shoulder.

"Not much." He laughed, one hand behind his head as he wrote off her question quickly. "And you?"

Alice was confused for a minute before she realized he was gesturing at her basket.

"I have something for you. But before I hand it over, I'll tell you what I plan to explain to everyone else today. When someone does a kind gesture for you, you're suppose to do something nice back. All I ask is for there to be peace, if only for this one day. That means no weapons, no fighting or anything else of the sorts. Understood?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.

Alice couldn't tell if he had been paying attention, what with that aloof expression on his face, eyes trained on her basket.

Sighing she pulled out a donut, wrapped in a napkin. "I felt this would be a good choice for you, since your always on the go."

"Thank you~" Ace practically sung, as he gave her a small hug before taking it. Greedily he unwrapped it and took a ginormous bite.

"Please don't choke..." She moaned, shaking her head at the sight of him.

"Nope, nothing of the sorts for today." Ace smiled, licking the frosting from the tips of his fingers.

"Thanks.." She giggled, a slight blush crossing her face. Maybe he had listened after all...

Ace looked up for a moment and commented, "Hey your face is red Alice! Are you cold?"

"Um-I..." She turned flustered for a moment, not quite having a response.

Ace reached into his bag to pull out a long hooded cloak, and slipped it over her hair.

"I feel like a child." Alice groaned, pulling on it's baggy weight. It was clearly two sizes too large for her.

"You look fine." He chirped brightly, shutting his eyes with a sheepish grin.

"If you say so." She sighed, looking over it with disdain. _Remember why your doing this Alice, this is what you wanted_, she tried convincing herself.

One good deed for another.

"I have a lot of people to see today, so I've got to get going." Alice informed him, as she turned to leave.

"Okay then, bye Alice!" He cried, waving her off.

She waved back too, and headed out, the long cloak and her hair swaying behind her with the swoosh from a breeze.

"Well, what do you know? My hood suits her!" Ace smirked to himself, before blinking in remembrance.

He picked his bag up once more, and used his mouth to carry Alice's sweet pastry.

There was still work to be done.

Alice was blissfully unaware to Ace's "work" however. Her heart felt lifted, a stride in her step as she continued on her quest.

To put a smile on everyone's face.

_Thanks for reading, sorry if it's a bit OOC. Remember to R&R and feel free to offer any suggestions on where you think Alice should head next. Hope you enjoyed!~lily_


End file.
